Tianwenlüe 天問略

Tianwenlüe 天問略 "Brief questions on Heaven" is a book on astronomy written during the late Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by the Jesuit father Manual Dias (1574-1659; Chinese name Yang Manuo 陽瑪諾), with the help of Zhou Xiling 周希齡 and Kong Zhenshi 孔貞時 (d. 1620). The Portuguese missionary arrived in China in 1610 and passed away during the early Qing period 清 (1644-1911). His works include Shengjing zhijie 聖經直解 "A direct explanation of the Holy Bible", Jingjiao bei quan 景教碑銓 "Exegesis of the Nestorian Stele", and Tianxue juyao 天學舉要 "Essentials of Heavenly studies".

The Tianwenlüe presents Ptolemy's (c. 100-170 CE) geocentric model of the universe, explaining the concept of the twelve celestial spheres in a question-and-answer format. It discusses the sun's movement along the ecliptic, seasonal changes, variations in day length, and the causes of lunar phases and eclipses. Additionally, it introduces Galileo's (1564-1642) astronomical discoveries, including Jupiter's (muxing 木星) four moons (weixing 衛星), the composition of the Milky Way (yinhe 銀河) as numerous individual stars, and Venus's (jinxing 金星) phases. The book concludes with a shadow projection table (mengying kefen biao 矇影刻分表) and detailed illustrations, providing clear and precise explanations.

It is included in the series Tianxue chuhan 天學初函, Yihai zhuchen 藝海珠塵, Siku quanshu 四庫全書 and Congshu jicheng chubian 叢收集成初編.